Mercedes-GT4: everything we knew

It looks like spyshots are just another wave of promotion in 2018. For the last few months we’ve scooped some interesting illicit pictures of the new Mercedes-AMG GT4, but now testing livery is being used to show off new cars, too.

Earlier this week, we received some scoopy photos of the new Mercedes-AMG GT4 in some flaming, neon livery – and now we’ve received official pictures from Mercedes-AMG of the same car.

As you can see, the livery used is certainly eye-catching, and definitely designed to draw attention to the car – the total opposite of normal testing livery. Interestingly, in the spyshots we received, there are also two GT4s pictured. The first is the flaming liveried GT4 complete with a fixed wing, and the second is a similar car – this time without a fixed spoiler.

Is the wing just an option, or does it suggest there’ll be more than one type of GT, like a GT4-C or a GT4-R? We’ll know more at Geneva next month.

Mercedes-AMG GT4: everything we know

The new AMG four-door is due to be shown at the Geneva motor show on 6 March 2018 - and it'll follow the look of the concept car, according to AMG chief Tobias Moers. 'I have shown some people the finished car now and they are impressed by how close it is to the show car,' he told CAR magazine recently.

How will the AMG GT differ from the new Mercedes CLS? 'We have a loyal CLS customer base already: it has the perfect combination of style, sportiness and comfort,' Moers added. 'With our new GT4, the task is all about conquest from other brands.'

Testing of the Mercedes new AMG GT4 production model has been well underway for some months now, and the long-of-wheelbase and sweeping-of-roofline prototype spotted winter testing in Sweden.

The car does not yet have a badge; AMG GT4 is a working project name, but AMG chief Tobias Moers told CAR at the 2017 LA motor show 'it won’t be called GT4. It’ll be called GT something.’

However, a post on the Mercedes-AMG instagram account shows several partially completed AMG GT4s on the production line, and interestingly, Mercedes refers to the car as the GT4. So perhaps it’s called the GT4, after all...

A post shared by Mercedes-AMG (@mercedesamg) on Feb 12, 2018 at 8:50am PST

Mercedes-AMG GT4: interior

Our man with the long lens has now poked around inside the GT4 prototypes, too, revealing a very Mercedes-spec reliance on digital dials (see below, with more pics in the gallery above).

This should come as no surprise, since this standalone AMG is in fact based on the E-class's architecture dubbed MRA.

Our latest spy photos capture the GT4 in late-series prototype form. It will be a hatchback, for added practicality, but there's a wider track, lower body and a unique roofline.

Strip away the matt-finish camouflage and bustle-back boot disguise, and it's increasingly apparent that much of the show car’s style will indeed be mapped onto the road car.

Although it borrows its clean surfaces and design cues from the two-door AMG GT coupe, it shares more in common with the engine room of the current E-class family. And, yes, that includes the E63's sledgehammer V8 bi-turbo. Hallelujah!

Mercedes AMG GT4: hybrid power?

TBC, but it’s likely, yes. The concept car was branded under Mercedes’ EQ Power+ badge, which is also applied to its hybrid F1 powertrain.

Whether it’ll be assisted by an electric motor or not, the same ‘hot-in-vee’ twin-turbo V8 we know and love from the two-door AMG GT (and C63, and E63) will be under the long bonnet, pushed as far back as possible against the firewall for optimum weight distribution.

Expect the same nine-speed automatic transmission, too, with or without hybrid ancillaries. While a two-tier range (as per the AMG GT) is likely, with a 500bhp-ish ‘regular’ model and a 600bhp S version with 4Matic four-wheel-drive, there may also be a further base model variant with a smaller six-cylinder powerplant.

If so, it’s this version that may be best placed to employ a hybrid powertrain.

Mercedes AMG GT4: boot space and knee room?

There should be space for four suitcases under that hatchback tailgate, which may sport a motorised spoiler on its bootlip, unlike the show car.

Up front, expect a vertical-slatted ‘Panamericana’ grille, like the two-door AMG GT.